A rising tide and electric vehicles may make for a mixed metaphor, but four of Japan's largest automakers say they're going to work together to build out enough of a charging infrastructure to boost demand for plug-in vehicles in their home country. Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi will work with the Japanese government to more than triple both the country's publicly accessible chargers – both Level 2 and DC fast chargers – to about 11,000 units and 5,700 units, respectively.

Anyone purchasing an EV in the state of Washington will have to pay an extra $100 with their registration – a bit counter-intuitive, considering that the government generally promotes EV purchases with incentives. You see, owners of gasoline-powered vehicles in WA pay an annual gasoline tax, and this new EV fee ensures that all drivers pay for the annual upkeep of roads.

The Nissan Leaf isn't exactly flying off dealer shelves these days, but the slow-selling EV could receive a sales boost when some production is moved to Tennessee. Bloomberg reports that Nissan is ambitiously expecting to double Leaf sales once the plant comes online in December. The sales boost would then give Nissan a chance at hitting 20,000 sales for the fiscal year that ends on March 31, 2013.

The Nissan Leaf isn't exactly flying off dealer shelves these days, but the slow-selling EV could receive a sales boost when some production is moved to Tennessee. Bloomberg reports that Nissan is ambitiously expecting to double Leaf sales once the plant comes online in December. The sales boost would then give Nissan a chance at hitting 20,000 sales for the fiscal year that ends on March 31, 2013.

It was just a few months ago that Nissan announced it had sold over 10,000 all-electric Leaf electric cars around the world. Speaking before the start of the Tokyo Motor Show today, company officials confirmed to Autoblog that the automaker has sold over 20,000 Leafs since the electric car went on sale in December of 2010.

Most vehicles today require routine maintenance at predetermined intervals. For the Nissan Leaf, the first required check-up comes at the 15,000-mile (or one year) mark. But Nissan North America still "recommends" a six-month service stop.

With U.S. sales of the Nissan Leaf hitting 7,199 units by the end of September, our buds over at The Truth Abut Cars thought it was time to compare year-to-date sales of the electric hatchback to some vehicles with a more conventional powertrain. These aren't direct competitors in any way – and some of the models are seriously due for a refresh – but it does go to show that EVs are making an impact. TTAC discovered that, as September came to a close, the Leaf was outselling these 15

In was late July when Carlos Ghosn, Nissan chief executive officer, stated that "with more than 10,100 electric Nissan Leaf vehicles already sold worldwide" the Japanese automaker is "clearly the global leader in zero emission mobility."

On the heels of its 7,000th Leaf delivery in the United States, Nissan North America is expanding availability of the $35,200-plus 2012 Leaf, with orders now accepted from residents of Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York. Initial deliveries of the 2012 Leaf, complete with the now-standard cold-weather package, will take place in these states by the end of December.

After receiving full approval from the Chinese government to sell the electric hatch, Nissan is reportedly readying its Leaf for export there by mid-October according to Kimiyasu Nakamura, president of Nissan's China joint venture.

On Thursday, Nissan America officials joined Governor Pat Quinn and the city of Chicago in announcing an accelerated Illinois rollout of the Leaf for this fall. Why the hurry up? Well, because the state of Illinois is ready, Leaf-ready.